


Happier

by dontlikedarkness



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotional Hurt, F/M, One Shot, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:54:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24520402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontlikedarkness/pseuds/dontlikedarkness
Summary: Two years had come and gone in a heartbeat. Everything was repetitive, and his days blurred together, but he was still content. He no longer scanned every crowd for her face; his hand didn’t feel as empty, and he wasn’t so cold at night, without the warmth of her body draped over his. He dreamt of her still, but they were quiet, peaceful dreams, of picnics at sunset and rides on his bike instead of the dreams where she left again, where he could hear the echo of the door slamming behind her every time he shook awake.in which duncan has to face reality.
Relationships: Bridgette/Geoff (Total Drama), Courtney/Duncan (Total Drama)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	Happier

**Author's Note:**

> this is based off a prompt an anon on my tumblr gave me - duncan sees courtney with another man two years after they broke up, using "happier" by ed sheeran as inspiration. i took it and ran with it and i'm honestly pretty proud of how it turned out, so! enjoy, i guess.

There had been a time, once, where Duncan had been Courtney’s everything. She was still his - there was no mistaking that - but that time where they only had eyes for each other, where they spent every waking moment together and relished each other’s touch, was long since gone. Two years was a long time to be apart. He had loved her all the while.

A  _ lot _ of wallowing occurred before Geoff could convince him to go out again. It was made worse by the lack of closure; they had been at different places in their lives, according to Courtney, but he would’ve gone to the ends of the earth for her. He had begged her to stay, had said everything right, and still she’d left him. Without a big fight or a definitive end to things, his feelings had lingered. Days turned into weeks turned into months, and he loved her still. Everyone said he would move on, but how could he?

Leaving the house again was a gradual process. Going to work was a given as he still had bills and rent to pay, but beyond that, he could hardly leave his bed. DJ would force his way into the apartment to cook for him, and Geoff made a point of visiting twice a week, but it took a month and a half for him to get up and to say more than a few words to them at a time. He’d folded in on himself after she left - like his entire identity revolved around her. It did, in a sense.

It was nothing short of a miracle when they finally got him to go somewhere. It had been a long six months of chasing him around his apartment - eventually they’d gotten him to visit their own places, and even to let them invite Bridgette and a few other close friends, but still he’d refused to go any further. When he agreed to visit the animal shelter with DJ, Geoff had half a mind to ambush him with a surprise party. DJ spent a solid week talking him down, and even then, Geoff made a show of tagging along and inviting them for drinks at his place afterwards. It wasn’t much, but the pair of them were secretly relieved to see Duncan leaving his hovel, as they’d so lovingly dubbed his tiny studio apartment. It helped to see him genuinely  _ happy _ , for the first time in months.

Eventually, their outings became routine, and Duncan found that he was content. He was laughing again, and being social - he went longer and longer spaces of time without thinking about Courtney. That ache was still there, but he was no longer quite so conscious of it.

Two years had come and gone in a heartbeat. Everything was repetitive, and his days blurred together, but he was still content. He no longer scanned every crowd for her face; his hand didn’t feel as empty, and he wasn’t so cold at night, without the warmth of her body draped over his. He dreamt of her still, but they were quiet, peaceful dreams, of picnics at sunset and rides on his bike instead of the dreams where she left again, where he could hear the echo of the door slamming behind her every time he shook awake.

Going to the bar was no longer so strange an idea. He’d go every so often, accompanied by Geoff and by Gwen, a pretty tattoo artist he’d struck up a friendship with a few months ago. Soon her girlfriend, Zoey, started to tag along, and then came her friends, Mike and Cameron and a few others he’d never bothered to learn the names of, and then DJ started to bring his boyfriend, and then Noah and Owen joined the group, and suddenly they were having massive outings and as overwhelming as it was to have that many people around, it provided an easy distraction. He had been caught on multiple occasions trying to send a drunk-text to Courtney, glancing around guiltily while he tapped away at his phone. Someone had always noticed, and stopped him before it was too late. With so many people around, often there was too much going on for him to have the space to think - and he liked it that way. Watching Gwen slam down whiskey sours like it was nothing and having to coax Owen down from tables meant he didn’t have the time to get emotional and make bad decisions.

There had always been an unspoken agreement that Bridgette was not to be invited to these things, no matter how much Geoff moaned and griped about missing her. Duncan didn’t have a problem with the girl, and they got along well whenever he crashed at their place, but she was Courtney’s best friend above all else, and she could be rather ditsy at times. The chance of her forgetting that Duncan was going and inviting her was too high.

“Dude, c’mon, it’s been  _ two years _ ,” Geoff whined, sidling up to Duncan with the saddest, dopiest look on his face that he could possibly manage. DJ noted Duncan’s answering scowl and shook his head, leaning back against the counter as best he could, given that it was short even by normal standards and that his stature was far above normal, hitting the 7 foot mark. “Geoff’s right, man. He promised that Bridge won’t invite her, anyways. Wouldn’t it be nice to have her around?”

Duncan threw up his arms in defeat. “Fine, fine, Bridge can come. But don’t think I’m happy about it.” Geoff made a noise not entirely unlike that of an air horn, pumping his fist in the air with all the excitement of someone who had just won the lottery. “Thank you, dude. You won’t regret it,” he promised. Something told Duncan he would.

***

His motorcycle had given him a great deal of trouble when starting it up, so he arrived at the bar nearly an hour late, already more than a little pissed off. He had several missed calls from DJ and absolutely none from Geoff, which wasn’t much of a surprise, given he now had his girlfriend there to keep him distracted. He fired off a few placating texts before setting his phone to silent and getting in line. Had he left his phone on, he might’ve been spared. Luck was not on his side that night, it seemed.

It wasn’t difficult to pick out DJ from the crowd, given how much he towered over everybody there. He wasted no time in joining his friend at the bar and ordering a couple shots of tequila. One look at the big man had him sliding a shot his way - he seemed visibly distressed, opening and closing his mouth as though there was something he wanted to say. 

“No boyfriend tonight?” He asked, hoping to set DJ a little more at ease. “Not tonight, no,” he responded, his words clipped, eyes fixed on a point past his head. Duncan turned with a frown, curious as to what was taking up his attention.

He wished he hadn’t looked. Maybe he could have remained oblivious, if a little concerned about his friend, and saved himself the heartache.

Because there she was, looking just as gorgeous as she had on the day she’d left, if not more so. She was all legs and curves, and her dress did little to hide it. Her hair was longer, now, and her freckles a little darker, as though she was spending more time in the sun. DJ’s hand on his arm startled him back to reality, and he blanched, having stepped towards her without meaning to. “Courtney,” he breathed, wrenching free of his friend’s grasp. He needed to see her, needed to tell her how much he missed her, how much he loved her, and-

He froze. His veins turned to ice, and he thought he might shatter, right then and there. An arm was wrapped around her waist, large and muscled and possessive, and the way she leaned into the unfamiliar man’s shoulder implied they were a lot more than friends. The man said something, and she laughed, a loud, pretty laugh. Fuck, how he’d missed her laugh.

What hurt the most wasn’t the man there with her. It wasn’t the way she laughed, or how much he missed her, or the fact that he was seeing her at all. No, what hurt the most was her  _ smile _ , because in all their years together she’d never looked that happy. She was positively radiant now, glowing from the inside out, and it was the most heartbreakingly beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

He clenched his hands into fists until his nails dug little crescents into his palms. And then he turned around, wallet out, and slammed a hundred dollar bill onto the counter. “Whatever bottle of liquor that’ll buy me is fine,” he ground out, ignoring DJ’s worried glances.

He found some secluded corner and planted himself there, taking long swigs from his drink. Eventually he lost count of how many friends had approached him to check up on him. He didn’t care. As the bottle emptied, so did the dance floor, and still he didn’t budge.

_ Nobody hurt her the way I did _ , he told himself, in an attempt to dissuade any thoughts of marching up to her and spilling his guts.  _ But nobody loved her the way I did - the way I  _ do  _ \- and nobody needs her as much _ , a second voice piped up, and he scowled, pushing the thought down.  _ I was happier with her. So, so much happier. _

But it was too late. She’d slipped through his fingers, and here she was. Happy. With somebody else.

As the night drew to a close, and almost everyone filed out of the bar, he was surprised to see her linger. They locked eyes, just once, right as he pulled the now-empty bottle away from his lips.  _ I’ll be here, waiting,  _ his eyes seemed to say,  _ if he ever breaks your heart.  _ Her answering gaze was so sad and so gentle that it took everything in him not to cry out in anguish.  _ I know. _


End file.
